I’ve been having a major clear out of clutter.

I find it difficult, because I value the things that I own and because I look after them it is not easy to justify throwing things out.

A few weeks back, I took three big boxes of books to a local book seller and handed them to him to support his market business.

The books I have kept fall into the following categories:

• English Classic Literature – Dickens, Austen, Bronte, Forster, Eliot
• Poetry – Keats, Popular Poetry, Poetry Anthologies, Children s
• The Natural World – David Attenborough’s BBC  TV Books
• Atlas’s
• The Bible
• Catholic Catechism
• Political Memoirs
• Shakespeare’s Complete Works – sadly not a First Folio
• The Royal Family
• The Papacy
• Journey of the Soul – a range of books that have supported my journey to be present.
• Stars and Planets
• Thrillers

This list speaks to me of a diverse interest in my country, my faith and the world around me.

Some of my reading has been inspired by my education, my formation as a Catholic, but others are at the heart of what it is that makes me who I am – the politics, the poetry, the wildlife.

My books on the journey of soul have released me from an oppressive attitude and a lethargy in life, to a new found energy to try to be interested in the world I live in – to be expansive in my capacity to be in the world and not to be overwhelmed by my small place that I occupy within it.

I have life which is a precious gift, I am unique, I am loved, I love, I feel, I cry, I breathe, I read.

What do your books say about you?

My next blog will be: Perfectionist

William Defoe